Cooling Off May Be The Key To Landing A Job

If you`ve just been laid off work, do not take an extended vacation, even if you deserve one.

Instead, take a week to cool off and then attack the job market at full throttle. Line up as many interviews as possible. Treat your search like a 40- hour-a-week job.

The advice comes courtesy of Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., an

``outplacement`` company. The Chicago-based firm is paid by employers to counsel people who have been discharged.

On New Year`s Eve, the firm will open its phone lines to anyone who recently has been discharged. The number to call from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. is 332-5790.

``Our experience has shown that many people make very wrong moves in the aftershock of being discharged which can seriously damage their opportunities of winning a new job,`` said James Challenger, president of the firm.

Among the firm`s suggestions:

- Contact everyone you know. Friends constitute the best source of knowledge about new jobs.

- Start your search soon after leaving work. If you take a vacation, you may have to account for that time when employers want to know why you haven`t been offered a job.

- Select primary job targets, but practice interviewing with marginal prospects before seeking out the best ones.